DIY: FN2 CTR Speaker Installation - front & rear

[MrThanh]

I started doing the rear first coz it's easier (in theory anyway)... all up for both front and rear it took about 2 hours.. most of the time was spent figuring out how to take the panels off without breaking anything. It's not too difficult if you've got some common sense and take some care when doing it all.

anyway, here we go...


REAR
Pry off the armrest that has the cupholder on it... I just pushed the screwdriver head in, and then pulled up on the screwdriver instead of pivoting it on that bottom panel so that I wouldn't mark/damage it.



then take off the 6 screws at the bottom that have just been revealed.





Now you can go and remove the speaker. Just one screw at the top, then pull the speaker towards yourself and then lift it up to take it out.



Screw a spacer in to hold your new speakers (6.5" variant). You WILL have to drill holes to screw it in (easy though as the metal is quite thin). I used a plastic BOSS spacer set that I got from Strathfield Car Radio today... it's usually $24/pair or something, but they were half price



Now mount the speaker and connect the wiring. I spliced into my speaker wiring and did not cut the original plug so that reinstallation of stock speakers would not be an issue. The connection was soldered and taped up too so that it doesnt come apart.


Done!



Well... not really. I found that the spacer pushed the speaker out a bit too far and wouldnt allow the panels to clip back on. I didn't want to take the speaker off, spacer off and cut back the spacer to make it thinner, I cut the plastic behind the speaker panel to provide a bit more clearance. I took about 5mm off all the way around using a dremel. easy.



Then put everything back on in reverse order, do the other side and you're done!

[MrThanh]

FRONT

Start by winding down the window and prying off the panel that houses the tweeter. You don't really need to wind down the window but it does make it easier.



Remove the little cover behind the door handles and remove the 2 screws.





Pry out the little cover in the armrest and remove the screw. It comes out really easily so dont use too much force or you'll damage/scratch something.





Then you can proceed to pull the door card off the door. Start where the speaker is as there's some space to fit your fingertips under and pull off the panel. Go round the panel and pull until you dislodge all of the clips. When you're done, lift the door panel upwards and it will come off.


Undo the latch release cable and locking cable and then unplug the two connectors that are attached to the door skin.





Now that the door skin is off you can remove the speaker. It's exactly the same speaker as the rear so its one screw off, lift and pull.



Screw on a spacer again and mount the speakers. I put a pair of splits in, so I mounted the crossover inside the door with some double sided tape. Wind the windows down before you stick the crossover anywhere to make sure that the window clears it.





because of the spacer again, same thing happened with the door skin not fitting on. so I got the dremel out again with the cutting wheel and cut some off.

Fit everything back on in reverse order and you're done. You will have to reset the auto up/down window controls on the drivers side. Push the down button for the window controls until it winds all the way down. Continue to hold the button down for a few seconds. Do the same for the up button.

Same process for the passenger side too.

[MrThanh]

one of the other issues that I encountered with all this was that the spacer was designed for 5.25" to 6.5" speakers, so I had to trim the spacer back a bit to fit my speakers. I just used the sanding bits on the dremel

Before


Modded and original spacers


After

[MrThanh]

stock v. MB Quart DCE116 used in the rears.





stock tweeter v. Focal Polyglass 165 V2 tweeter used in the front. I forgot to take a woofer comparison, but the magnet is bigger than the mb quart above.



Best part about it all was that even with spacers, i did not have to cut into the door like i did in the DC5. The OEM hole is just so much bigger.

[MrThanh]

posts updated lol

[kookie]

Nice work Thanh,
Mod that CTR like a champ.

[felixR]

Great work Thanh!

What's the sound like now?

[M a i k e r u]

Thanh first mod, DOOF DOOF!!

[MrThanh]

Great work Thanh!

What's the sound like now?

doesn't clip anymore at vol. 20+ !!

it's clearer at all volumes now. Everything is so much more defined, instead of them sounding too bright in the highs and too muddy in the lows. It seems as though i've lost some bass, but its very minor.

The tweeters are also so much better... the old ones made me wanna kill myself after listening to them for a while as it just sounded too chirpy and way to bright.

it's the same setup I had in the DC5 coz I pulled everything out of it before it was traded in lol.

i need a sub now, but my gf wont let me get one *enter whip cracking sound here*

time for a stealth install i think...

[Sp00n]

how big were the OEM speakers? and how big are the speakers you put in?

[MrThanh]

i'm pretty sure that they're 6.5" all round.

stock speakers are all identical. I had no issues with fitting 6.5" Focal 165 V2 in the front and MB Quart DCE 116 in the rear. the main problem was that my spacers were probably a bit too thick, so I had to cut a bit off the trim.

I used plastic spacers too, and they were hollow which was good, because there's a bulge where the OEM speaker screws into. The hollow spacers meant that I could just put the spacer gap over that bulge with the mounting screw thread. If you use a MDF spacer, you will probably have to sand it back a bit in one little section to clear this bulge.

[Philip Lee]

top job. well done!

[tinkerbell]

top job. well done!

x 1000

[freakygeek]

Great write up! And nice job too!

[Sp00n]

ah sweet!
nice install!